Locomotive Plovdiv

Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Basic data
Surname	Profesionalen futbolen klub Lokomotiw Plwvdiw
Seat	Plovdiv , Bulgaria
founding	July 25, 1926
president	Christo Bonew
Website	lokomotivpd.com
First soccer team
Head coach	Hristo Kolev
Venue	Lokomotiv Stadium
Places	10,800
league	A group
2019/20	5th place
home Away

The PFK (Profesionalen futbolen club) Lokomotiw Plovdiv ( Bulgarian Професионален футболен клуб Локомотив Пловдив , German PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ), or "Loko Plovdiv", is a professional football club from Plovdiv , Bulgaria .

history

Foundation phase

The club was founded in 1926 by the engineers Ilija Pacharkow, Todor Atanasow, Petar Michailow, Gantscho Kolew and Petar Shevkenow, who were employed by a railway company, as the "Zeleznitscharski Sporten Klub". Likewise, the first trainer, Mikhail Shevkenov, and the entire team were employed by the same employer, and all expenses for the game were covered by donations from the entire workforce. According to more recent findings, the association has two years of foundation, since today's association comes from the union of the railway association with the most successful and popular association from Plovdiv (sports club) up to that time . Sports club was founded in 1926, which could possibly be considered the actual founding year. This also explains the popularity of the newly founded club. At the moment the actual family tree of the association is still being determined.

In the first few years there were no noteworthy successes and the club was mostly in the shadow of the local rivals Sportclub Plovdiv and Botev Plovdiv as well as the seemingly overwhelming big clubs from Sofia . After being renamed "ZSK Slawia-Chengelov Plovdiv" in 1940, the final of the Bulgarian Cup could be reached two years later , which was lost to Levski Sofia after the game was abandoned .

post war period

At the end of the Second World War , the club's management changed the name to "Slavija Tschengelow Plovdiv". After it was renamed "Torpedo Plowdiw" in 1949, the name "Lokomotiw", which is still valid today, appeared two years later and the association subsequently referred to itself as "DFS Lokomotiw Plovdiv" (which in 1989 only slightly changed to "FK Lokomotiw Plovdiv "was adapted).

In terms of sport, the time at the beginning of the 1950s was characterized by mediocrity. In 1955, after previous rounds in secure midfield, the club suddenly rose from the top division. The club did not recover from this setback for a long time and only managed to return to the elite league in the 1961/62 season. After having only just barely secured relegation in the first year after being promoted, they established themselves in seventh place in the following year. Somewhat surprising was the nomination as Bulgarian representative for the trade fair cup , which was received again in the two subsequent years, despite only mediocre final placements. The highlight was the round of 16 of the 1964/65 season when, after victories in the initial group stage, they were narrowly defeated by Juventus Turin in the round of 16 .

High phase around 1970

The club established itself in the following time in the top division. The third place in the final table of the 1968/69 season was an expression of a new playing strength that formed around the 98-fold Bulgarian national player and later national coach Christo Bonew and the club qualified for the first time purely athletically for a European competition, where they again Juventus faced and lost again.

The runner-up in 1973, third place in 1974 and fourth place in 1976 with the respective qualifications for the newly introduced UEFA Cup were the culmination of this period.

Financial problems and the first title

This was followed by a sporting decline, which in 1980 led to relegation to the second division and the reason for which was to be seen in financial problems that the club had to struggle with.

After two unsuccessful attempts to return, the club reported back in 1983 with a bang and added victory in the Soviet Army Cup to the rise when Lokomotiv defeated their opponents from Chirpan 3-1. However, this momentum did not have a lasting effect and the club had to accept the direct relegation. After another year of abstinence, the club underlined its status as an "elevator team" and rose again in 1985.

Modern developments until today

This was followed by a longer phase until 1991, during which Lokomotive was mostly in the lower midfield of the league and then suddenly qualified for a place in the UEFA Cup in 1992 and 1993 with fourth and third place respectively, where they already qualified each defeated in the first round against AJ Auxerre and Lazio Rome . From 1995 at the latest, however, the shape curve showed clearly downwards and in 1999 the fourth descent in the club's history followed as bottom of the table.

In 2001, when Georgi Iliev bought up the club and immediately afterwards , Dimitar Dimitrov , the former master coach of Litex Lovetsch and Levski Sofia , came to Plovdiv. Dimitrov immediately took sixth place and the following year fifth. However, since the club failed to qualify for a European competition, Iliew hired Eduard Eranosjan, a new young coach, from whom the new club management promised a breakthrough to the top of Europe.

The work of Eranosjan was not overly celebrated despite a perfect start to the 2003/04 season, as this came about against supposedly weaker teams, although the top teams Levski and CSKA Sofia could also be beaten in the course of increased self-confidence . After poor preparation for the back series of the season, Eranosjan was unexpectedly dismissed and the assistant coach Ivan Marinov took over responsibility. However, after the team's performance decreased significantly and after a 0-0 in the derby against Botew Plovdiv a clear 0-4 against Levski followed, the supporters Eranosjan was brought back under pressure. This measure paid off as the team stabilized again and secured the first championship in the history of the club one match day before the end of the season.

In the subsequent qualification for the Champions League, however, the club was clearly defeated by the Belgian runner-up FC Bruges , with the consolation between the two games by winning the Supercup when Litex Lovetsch could be defeated 1-0. In the subsequent 2004/05 season, the title could not be defended. With the third place, however, the club continues to clarify its claims to be a permanent aspirant for the top places in Bulgarian football alongside the previously dominant clubs from Sofia.

On August 26, 2005, the day after successfully qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Cup when OFK Belgrade was defeated, tragedy befell the club when incumbent President Georgi Iliev was shot by a sniper. After the death came the elimination in the second round against the Bolton Wanderers .

Fan culture

The club's fans consider themselves funny and loyal. Lokomotiv Plovdiv is one of the country's most popular Bulgarian clubs and enjoyed an unchanged large audience even during the relegation times, with the supporters also deliberately differentiating themselves from "capital city football" in Sofia and thus directed against the establishment . Before the collapse of the communist system, Lokomotiv founded the first football fan club in Bulgaria on May 11, 1988. The Plovdiv derby with city rivals Botew Plovdiv is always hotly contested.

European Cup balance sheet

season	competition	round	opponent	total	To	Back
1963/64	Exhibition cities cup	1 round	Steagul Roșu Brașov	5: 2	3: 1 (A)	2: 1 (H)
		2nd round	Újpest Dósza SC	1: 3	0: 0 (A)	1: 3 (H)
1964/65	Exhibition cities cup	1 round	FK Vojvodina Novi Sad	4: 2	1: 1 (A)	1: 1 (H)
					2-0 in Sofia
		2nd round	Petrolul Ploiesti	2: 1	0: 1 (A)	2: 0 (H)
		3rd round	Juventus Turin	3: 4	1: 1 (A)	1: 1 (H)
					1: 2 in Turin
1965/66	Exhibition cities cup	1 round	Spartak Brno ZJŠ	1: 2	0: 2 (A)	1: 0 (H)
1966/67	Exhibition cities cup	1 round	Partizan Belgrade	2: 6	1: 5 (A)	1: 1 (H)
1969/70	Exhibition cities cup	1 round	Juventus Turin	2: 5	1: 3 (A)	1: 2 (H)
1971/72	Uefa cup	1 round	FC Carl Zeiss Jena	3: 4	0: 3 (A)	3: 1 (H)
1973/74	Uefa cup	1 round	Sliema Wanderers	3-0	2: 0 (A)	1: 0 (H)
		1 round	Honvéd Budapest	5: 7	3: 4 (H)	2: 3 (A)
1974/75	Uefa cup	1 round	Győri ETO FC	4: 4 (4: 5  i. E. )	3: 1 (H)	1: 3 a.d. (A)
1976/77	Uefa cup	1 round	Red Star Belgrade	3: 5	2: 1 (H)	1: 4 (A)
1983/84	Uefa cup	1 round	PAOK Thessaloniki	2: 5	1: 2 (H)	1: 3 (A)
1992/93	Uefa cup	1 round	AJ Auxerre	3: 9	2: 2 (H)	1: 7 (A)
1993/94	Uefa cup	1 round	Lazio Rome	0: 4	0: 2 (A)	0: 2 (H)
2004/05	UEFA Champions League	2nd qualifying round	Club Bruges	0: 6	0: 2 (A)	0: 4 (H)
2005/06	Uefa cup	2nd qualifying round	OFK Belgrade	( a ) 2: 2(a)	1: 2 (A)	1: 0 (H)
		1 round	Bolton Wanderers	2: 4	1: 2 (A)	1: 2 (H)
2006	UEFA Intertoto Cup	2nd round	Farul Constanța	2: 3	1: 2 (A)	1: 1 (H)
2012/13	UEFA Europa League	2nd qualifying round	Vitesse Arnhem	5: 7	4: 4 (H)	1: 3 (A)
2019/20	UEFA Europa League	2nd qualifying round	Spartak Trnava	( a ) 3: 3(a)	2: 0 (H)	1: 3 (A)
		3rd qualifying round	Racing Strasbourg	0: 2	0: 1 (H)	0: 1 (A)

Legend: (H) - home game, (A) - away game, (N) - neutral place, (a) - away goal rule , (i. E.) - on penalties , (n. V.) - after extra time

Overall record : 48 games, 12 wins, 9 draws, 27 defeats, 57:90 goals (goal difference −33)

Others

• Lokomotiw Plovdiv is known as the "Plovdiv Juve" due to its white jerseys with black vertical stripes, based on the jerseys from Juventus Turin .
• The club was the only Bulgarian second division team to win a Bulgarian national cup.
• The club holds the attendance record for a second division game in Bulgaria with 45,000 against Beroe Stara Sagora

player

• Christo Bonew (1965-1967, 1968-1981, 1982-1984)
• Christo Slatinski (2005-2007)

Sporting successes

• Bulgarian champion (1): 2004
• Soviet Army Cup Winner (1): 1983
• Bulgarian Super Cup (2): 2004, 2020
• Bulgarian Cup Winner (2): 2019, 2020

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bulgarian football boss shot dead , BBC News . August 26, 2005. 
2. ^ Bolton 2-1 Lokomotiv Plovdiv , BBC News . September 15, 2005. 
3. ↑ Match details on weltfussball.de
4. ↑ Match details on weltfussball.de

Web links

• Official website